Parts of the Yangtze – the world’s third largest river – are drying up amid intense heat that has prompted a nationwide drought alert. The three statues were found on the highest part of the island reef in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing. One of the island’s statues – called Foyeliang – depicts a monk sitting on a lotus pedestal. The heatwave is the most extreme in six decades and has seen temperatures regularly exceed 40C (104F) in many cities. Forecasters have warned that bad conditions could last until September, amid fears of a “serious situation” in Sichuan province due to a loss of water in the hydroelectric system. Authorities are working to maintain power and find fresh water to irrigate crops ahead of the fall harvest. The severe heatwave across the Yangtze Basin has been caused by a higher-than-usual Western Pacific subtropical high. It has lasted for more than two months, reducing hydropower supplies and drying up large areas of arable land. The Yangtze River supports about a third of the country’s population. Officials in Beijing have warned of an increasing risk of extreme weather in China as a result of climate change – while heavy rainfall continued to take its toll in other parts of the country. Read more on Sky News: How a humpback whale highway offers climate change warnings Water levels in the main body of the Yangtze Lakes and Dongting and Poyang Lakes in the flood basin are now at least 4.85 meters (16 feet) shallower than normal – and the lowest on record for the period, officials said. Rainfall in the basin has been about 45% below normal since July, forecasters said.
